Thrilled to Have You by My Side
by TheNameIsErronBlack
Summary: After Terra's betrayal, Raven vows to help Beast Boy any way she can and acquires a bizarre affliction for her efforts.
1. Chapter 1

The mood of the tower was dour. It was almost as if one didn't have to reach out to touch it, it was invasive. The air itself had been infected. It was a particularly disconcerting situation for Raven. Her comrades looked to her empathetic powers for even a modicum of insight as to his emotional state, though attempts to examine Beast Boy's emotions were equivalent to deciphering meaning from static.

"We don't have a right to invade on this. Terra burned us all, but she hurt Beast Boy something fierce, and we should give him time to handle it." Predictably, Nightwing extolled the virtues of stoicism.

"I disagree. The optimal solution to emotional problems of this intensity is support from friends and loved ones." Starfire timidly brought for her solution.

Truly, what could be done? Beast Boy gave Terra his heart, and she left, but not before grinding it into the dust. The Titans were no stranger to pain of this variety, but those incidents had taken place long before they had ever known each other. By the time their superhero coalition had formed, those wounds had, for the most part, naturally healed. Sure, they had walked away from life-threatening injuries, but not a single one of them had a clue as to fixing broken spirits. In Raven's opinion, the best thing to do would've bee-

Before she could conclude her thought, time itself halted as Beast Boy made his entrance. She cursed herself for whipping her head to face him, though she was not alone in making that mistake.

"Mornin', gang." Beast Boy, nonchalant as ever, made his way to the refrigerator. The four exchanged lightning-quick glances as if some immutable truth could be garnered from their facial expressions.

"Man, this weather is the worst. I guess it's a relax and play video games kinda day." He was as chipper as could be. Despite how much she derided him for his intelligence and lack of social skills, Raven found it uncanny how well Beast Boy was able to mask his emotions, internally and externally. Even now, her fleeting attempts were met with total blankness.

"Sounds good, man. We should go for a couple rounds in Mortal Kombat." Cyborg loathed Mortal Kombat.

Having acquired his drink, Beast Boy returned Cyborg's suggestion with his toothy grin. "Totally," He stretched his arms and yawned. "After I go back to sleep. I am way too tired to function right now." With that, the four seated Titans motionlessly watched the changeling return to his room.

After several agonizing moments of silence, Raven concluded that something had to be done. Beast Boy would've hurled himself into the darkness for any of them without reservation. She owed him far more than an open ear, but it was a start.

"Where are you going?" Starfire still likely wanted to formulate a team strategy for helping Beast Boy, which Raven felt was a pointless exercise. It was impossible to articulate, but she felt, for some bizarre reason, that the only member of the team Beast Boy would be feel secure in opening to was her. Even then, she had absolutely no clue if she would reciprocate her invitation.

"I'm going to talk to him. We can't just let him wallow in despair."

With that, she stood, beginning her dutiful march to fate's calling.


	2. Chapter 2

Once she truly processed the scenario, Raven found it almost poetic. Beast Boy had spent almost the entirety of his superhero tenure making sure that she was happy. Whenever she was moody or spending entire days cooped up in her room sulking, he would be there, armed with a corny joke, an open ear, and his eternally stalwart desire to see her smile. Her hesitation stemmed less from not wanting to assuage Beast Boy's pain and more so from the idea that she was incapable of relieving him in any meaningful way. Still, something as petty as insecurity would not deter her. With newfound resolve and a somewhat pained sigh, the wheels of fate made their movie.

 _Knockknockknock._ "Beast Boy?"

A few moments of silence. "Yeah?"

"It's Raven. Can I speak with you for a moment?"

And there he was. Having mostly avoided his comrades in the days prior, Raven didn't have a chance to have a look at Beast Boy, and the results were, to put it mildly, disquieting. There were rapidly proliferating bags under his eyes, his back hunched forth as if burdened by a massive weight at all times, and it was fairly obvious that the mild redness that painted his face stemmed from crying. It positively broke her heart. Praying that the overpowering mixture of pity and impotent rage wasn't readily apparent, Raven shattered the silence.

"I just wanted to tell you that…" The words were so hard to find. "I'm here for you if you need to talk. About anything."

The changeling's mouth hung open for several moments as he processed the entreatment. "Thank, Rae," Normally, she would chastise him for employing that nickname despite the jolt of pleasure that ran through her body every time she heard it, but the sight of normalcy made her heart jump. Beast Boy had completely abstained from movies, video games, and pranks for the duration of his affliction, and to hear that was a small victory for Raven. "I'm kind of in the middle of this totally awesome action movie right now, so how's about a rain check?" Now he was smiling. It was timid, almost fleeting, but it was there.

Despite the minor advancements, a cursory glance of his room utilizing her peripheral vision found no obvious light source. Raven was remiss to leave him to wallow in his anguish, but she knew better than most how to take hints.

"I wouldn't want to interrupt one of your intellectual masterpieces, but I'm here whenever you need me." She returned his shy display with a forced grin.

Defeated at seeing close his door, she let out another hefty sigh. Progress was progress, regardless of how minimal, but the battle would undoubtedly be an arduous one.

* * *

"I am most displeased to hear that. Your gesture was a noble one, but I fear we are powerless to help at present."

Starfire had joined Raven later in the evening for an update on Beast Boy's condition following their initial meeting.

"I refuse to accept that. Garfield has always been there when we've been down, and there is no way I'm letting Terra win like this." Perhaps unintentionally, the thought of Terra made her hoarse with anger.

"Despite your incredible abilities, Raven, I fear even you cannot fix a broken heart. Garfield shared a connection with Terra far more powerful than any of us. Something of that magnitude cannot simply be whisked away with the snapping fingers."

If she wasn't before, the empath was now fuming. Perhaps it was selfish, but what she despised with every fiber of her existence was the way Terra so easily abandoned Garfield in spite of everything he had done for her. Beast Boy was perhaps the most selfless, unrelentingly kind spirit she had ever met, and he gave every part of himself to Terra without objection only to be met with a crushing blow like no other. Raven was quite lucky that she had developed a more absolute control of her emotions, she thought, otherwise Terra's face would presently be hamburger meat. Beast Boy didn't deserve the heartache, Terra didn't deserve him.

"This is...fucked."

Starfire's eyes widened at Raven. She was not one to be so blunt or crude, but that really was the optimal word to describe the situation. Fucked. Beast Boy was suffering because a cold, manipulative witch had decided to play with his heart, and his friends were totally incapable of helping him. Everything was fucked.

"I'm sorry, but that's how I fee-"

"Raven?"

The Titans residing on the edge of the tower overlooking the horizon, bodies beset by anxiety, whipped around to find Garfield timidly shuffling outside.

"Could we, uh," He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Talk?"

Raven exchanged a glance with Starfire, totally paralyzed.

"I believe Cyborg requires me for the heavy-lifting. I will see you both tomorrow." With that, she was off. For the first time, Raven was glad to see Starfire leave, though she would be sure to thank her for her quick wits later. Despite her alien nature, she could be quite perceptive.

With the alien departed, Raven's gaze returned to Beast Boy, who looked for all the world like a child being scorned by an enraged parent. Deciding that a smile would be the best way to ease him in, she held out her arm to present him with a seat next to her like a magician revealing a trick. Seeing him timidly shuffle into it made her stifle a laugh. It was rather endearing.

"I'm happy to see you, Beast Boy."

Again, there was that tiny, shy smile that made her heart skip a beat. Perhaps some progress could finally happen.


	3. Chapter 3

For some time, the two simply sat on the edge of the roof, enjoying their company and the kaleidoscope dancing in the distance provided to them by the sky and sun. While watching the sun fall out of sight was one of Raven's favorite pastimes, Beast Boy's presence made her stomach dance, a sensation supplemented by his persistent silence. Of course, this was him time to talk, so she would put no pressure on him as to when to start or stop. If he wanted to spill every last acrimonious thought of Terra or if he simply wanted to make an emphatic statement of negative feeling, either would suffice for her.

"It sucks."

At last he spoke. Raven shifted her gaze ever so delicately to meet him, though he insisted on focusing on making peace with the sun for the evening in favor of eye contact.

"I know everyone says...stuff like this happening means the other person was the asshole, but I just don't think that's true. What Terra did was unforgivable, but that doesn't just magically invalidate all the stuff that came before," It was true that Beast Boy felt every emotion, the wondrous and the horrid, to its greatest extreme. "But the worst part is what I've done to you guys."

That made Raven's heart sink. It was no great mystery of the universe that self-loathing dominated Beast Boy's worldview despite his cocky, jovial front, but what could possibly convince him that his teammates were angry with him? They each wanted nothing more than his absolute happiness.

"She tries to murder us, and here I am moping over her just because I had the hots for her," He held his arms out and chuckled without any mirth as if he was utterly befuddled by someone's actions having taken over his own body. "I used to think I was above thinking with my crotch."

It essentially went without saying that Raven, being an empath, cared deeply for her allies and found it beyond frustrating when they were in distress, but something about seeing Beast Boy in such a state of profound torment made her feel as if a brick had been placed in her chest. Saying that Beast Boy was sweet, empathetic, and unflinchingly kind to just about every living creature was a gross understatement. Despite her more than occasional proclivity for hurtling thunderous vitriol down upon him regarding his lack of intelligence or Neanderthal-esque level of social acumen, Raven acknowledged that beneath his constant lackadaisical tomfoolery was the heart of a boy who genuinely enjoyed putting other's happiness before his own at every opportunity and was far more knowledgeable about the world and emotions than he preferred to let others know.

"No one blames you for mourning, Beast Boy, certainly not me or any of the Titans. We know what Terra meant to you," She ever so gently shuffled closer to him. "In fact, I think it's really incredible that you can still feel those emotions for her after what she did," That was the earnest truth. "You're really strong for that. I don't think any of us could do that for another person."

Their eyes met, and Raven detected a barely visible hint of a subtle smile timidly scoping out the world for danger. She once again felt her stomach soar at seeing him come back to her. It was less a cool glass of thirst-quenching lemonade on a boiling summer day and more of a cup of room temperature tap water in the middle of the desert, but it was something of note.

"Wow," He almost whispered. "Did I just get a compliment from Raven?

Raven herself felt her mouth arch to the side. It would obviously be testing her luck, but she would like to keep their back-and-forth momentum going. "If you tell anyone about this, I will deny it forever," If she was being totally honest, she felt more than a bit awkward about declaring this to the point where she detected a surge of warmth on her cheeks, but it would hopefully help. "This is overused, but... any girl would be lucky to have you, Beast Boy."

As his smile and eyes expanded, Raven again felt her chest light up, but the feeling was cut short as the two turned around to find Starfire peeking through the adjacent door. She was hardly an expert in subterfuge, so she clearly held no vicious motivation.

"Oh," She nervously exclaimed. "I apologize. I was simply checking to make sure that you two were still engaged in your exchange of words."

"Be in in a minute, Star!" Raven called back before returning her attention to Beast Boy. "So...I'll see you tomorrow?"

Still maintaining that perfect, muted smile, Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah. Definitely."

* * *

And that was how it went, more or less. They didn't care to have a solidified schedule and their relationship outside of those meetings was the typical love-hate back-and-forth, but, every now and again, they would meet. What would they talk about it? It didn't matter, really. The weather, movies, the on-goings of the superhero community, but the matter of primary importance was that it would simply be the two of them free from distractions, supervillains, and the ever-present struggles of life. Occasionally, Beast Boy would discuss Terra and the curious melancholy surrounding her, and Raven would provide an open ear. She wouldn't judge, tell him about how much she screwed him, or that she wanted to pound her face into the dirt. It was nice. In fact, Raven found herself looking forward to it more and more as time when on to the point where it became the most hotly anticipated portion of her day.

"I guess you could say: it's not perfect, but I'll take it."

Beast Boy had been regaling her with his quest to acquire his preferred brand of ice cream that had been discontinued by his favorite dessert shop, Super Scoop. Being a superhero of semi-notoriety, he had managed to cajole the fanboy cashier to give him a custom order free of charge after providing him with a picture and an autograph.

"Saving the free world from destruction has its perks, I suppose."

Beast Boy chuckled before the two once again fell into a comfortable silence, in itself not unusual for their meetings. Occasionally, it was simply nice to enjoy the pleasant night weather, radiant sky, and mutual compassion.

Raven was hurled from her pleasant day-dreaming by the sensation of something exceptionally warm enveloping her hand.

Her heart, as if delicately traversing a tightrope in the midst of a hailstorm, stopped dead in its tracks: Beast Boy was holding her hand.

An instant later, Beast Boy snapped his hand away and sat up, profusely apologizing. "Oh, jeez, I don't know what that was," He exclaimed as his cheeks almost burst into a cherry-red flame. "Please don't throw me into the ocean for that, Raven, I-"

Before he could continue tripping over his own words, Raven retrieved the hand that Beast Boy suctioned cupped to his chest, interweaving their fingers with a smile that could be seen from orbit. "It's okay, Garfield."

And, for the first time in ages, it truly was.


End file.
